This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the ‘nohup’ command in Linux. It covers the history, usage, and some lesser-known tricks of the command. ‘nohup’ is a valuable tool for system administrators as it allows them to run commands or processes in the background even after logging out. This guide includes examples and common use cases, making it an excellent resource for beginners looking to enhance their Linux skills.
Instructions
This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the ‘nohup’ command in Linux. It covers the history of the command, its usage, common parameters, and some lesser-known tricks. ‘nohup’ is a valuable tool for system administrators as it allows them to run commands or processes in the background even after the user has logged out. This guide includes examples and common use cases, making it an excellent resource for beginners looking to enhance their Linux skills.
History
The ‘nohup’ command has been a part of Unix-like operating systems for many years. It was introduced to provide a way to run processes in the background, unaffected by hangups, hence the name ‘nohup’ which stands for “no hangup”.
When and why to use it
You would use the ‘nohup’ command when you want to run a process or command that will continue executing even after you have logged out of the system. This is particularly useful for long-running processes or scripts that you want to keep running even if you disconnect from the system.
How to use it
The basic syntax of the ‘nohup’ command is nohup COMMAND [ARG].... You follow 'nohup' with the command you want to run in the background.
$ nohup ./my-script.sh &The commonly used parameters
The ‘nohup’ command does not have its own parameters. Instead, it is followed by the command or process you want to run in the background.
Other supported parameters
As mentioned above, ‘nohup’ does not have its own parameters. It is used in conjunction with other commands and their parameters.
Most common use cases
One of the most common use cases for ‘nohup’ is running scripts or processes on a remote server. For example, you might start a data processing script on a remote server, then log out and leave the script running.
$ nohup python data-processing.py &The tricky skills
While ‘nohup’ is a fairly straightforward command, one lesser-known trick is that you can use it in conjunction with the ‘&’ operator to run the process in the background and immediately return control to the shell.
$ nohup ./my-script.sh &What needs to be noted
When using ‘nohup’, it’s important to remember that the output of the command will be redirected to a file called ‘nohup.out’ in the current directory. If you want to redirect the output to a different file, you can do so using the ‘>’ operator.
Conclusion
The ‘nohup’ command is a powerful tool for running processes in the background on a Linux system. It’s particularly useful for long-running processes and scripts, and is a valuable part of any system administrator’s toolkit.
